topic Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel? in Credit Cards

Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:20:27 GMT

Call me paranoid, but I'm leaning toward using only gas cards to purchase gas, to limit my exposure to skimmers. Pretty sure one of my card thefts was the result of getting gas in NJ on a VISA. At least if they get a gas-only card on a skimmer, they can't charge hundreds at Target, etc. on it.

I use my Wawa card locally and regionally, where available, for gas, 5c back per gallon. I recently was approved for a Sheetz card, which is also pretty strictly regional. There's also cash savings there, but it turns out it'll be a VISA, so that doesn't help my security issue.

I'm also aware of the viability of using my Walmart card for gas where Walmart gas is available, and I have another card with enhanced rewards on warehouse stores, so Costco gas is another option since I'm a member there.

What do you folks recommend as the best nationally-available gas card, preferably one with real rewards? Not interested in free coffee. For longer trips, I'd really like to be able to scope out specific stations and accumulate rewards. Any gems hiding out there?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

fltireguy — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:39:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Call me paranoid, but I'm leaning toward using only gas cards to purchase gas, to limit my exposure to skimmers. Pretty sure one of my card thefts was the result of getting gas in NJ on a VISA. At least if they get a gas-only card on a skimmer, they can't charge hundreds at Target, etc. on it.

I use my Wawa card locally and regionally, where available, for gas, 5c back per gallon. I recently was approved for a Sheetz card, which is also pretty strictly regional. There's also cash savings there, but it turns out it'll be a VISA, so that doesn't help my security issue.

I'm also aware of the viability of using my Walmart card for gas where Walmart gas is available, and I have another card with enhanced rewards on warehouse stores, so Costco gas is another option since I'm a member there.

What do you folks recommend as the best nationally-available gas card, preferably one with real rewards? Not interested in free coffee. For longer trips, I'd really like to be able to scope out specific stations and accumulate rewards. Any gems hiding out there?

Thanks in advance.

Personally, I like the Shell card. Coupled with my FRN card, I save a minimum of 8 cents per gallon, and never pay extra for credit anywhere! In terms of just sheer amounts of retail outlets, Shell is also the leader... (Shell card is a flat 5 cents per gallon statement credit, FRN card is 3 cents per gallon off on a bad day... lately it's been a minimum of 5 cents here in Florida..)

The Walmart card is almost useless for gas now, since they nerfed the rewards a little while ago...

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:54:43 GMT

As long as gas stays below $3 most of your x number of cents back cards will be best, however if it does go over $3 again there are several 3% cash back at gas pump cards that will be more valuable.

I had a shell card mostly for the ability to always have gas as a young adult rather then the rewards and I personally think shell and exxon do a decent job keeping up with their fuel quality at the pump, vs walmart and other cheaper gas companies have been known to have water in and or other issues with their gas.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 15:09:29 GMT

I have a rewards card with the major gas stores, like Shell, BP, Kroger, Speedway etc. to get anywhere between $0.03-$0.10 per gallon, then I always use the Sam's Club credit card to 5% back. When Discover and Freedom offer 5% on gas I switch to them. You have to maintain a membership with Sam's Club to get the card though. I wish the Sallie Mae mastercard was still available.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Ghoshida — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 16:33:28 GMT

Not really a gas card but this may work for you OP: Buy Shell GC at the grocery store with your rewards giving credit card. I use my Sallie Mae to do this and am also a fuel rewards member. Granted I do it to max out grocery spend and get extra grocery store points, but it restricts fraud chances even tighter.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:22:53 GMT

I used to do the same thing at Speedway. I would go in and buy Speedway giftcards because they would load up your Speedway points with each purchase, then I would just simply buy the gas with the prepaid cards. Used to get a free tank each quarter. Unfortunately I don't live in a Speedway state anymore though.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 03:17:51 GMT

I think you would be best with Shell and Exxon/Mobile. These are the two largest gas companies and stations. Another back up is if you have a low CL major credit card. I have a BoA Cash Back with a $400 limit. It was secured and I asked them to unsecure it early, but they won't give me an increase. I use this card at Costco for gas only. If I were out of my home region I'd use it for gas. If BoA ever raises the CL, I'll need a different card for gas only. I'm leary about gas pump card readers now so I only use oil company only cards or the BoA. If I get skimmed, minimal damage to worry about. My thoughts anyways.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 11:17:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a rewards card with the major gas stores, like Shell, BP, Kroger, Speedway etc. to get anywhere between $0.03-$0.10 per gallon, then I always use the Sam's Club credit card to 5% back. When Discover and Freedom offer 5% on gas I switch to them. You have to maintain a membership with Sam's Club to get the card though. I wish the Sallie Mae mastercard was still available.

Yeah, the Sam's card is a funny one. It's pretty nice gas card, solid dining card, but terrible for actually buying things at Sam's. It's probably a smart approach though. Tons of people get it without really comparing and for the convenience of using it as the membership card, and just go on and use it at Sam's without comparing it too much with other cards. In fact, that's exactly what I would've done, except they denied me (then I eventually got 4 cards that were all better for Sam's purchases).

It looks like a fantastic gas-only card, but I assume they bank on people not using it that way.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

fltireguy — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:02:34 GMT

PapasChileHuevos wrote:

graath wrote:

It looks like a fantastic gas-only card, but I assume they bank on people not using it that way.

Just a reminder, it's NOT a gas-only card. It's a MASTERCARD.

OP stated that he is paranoid of skimmers, and was looking for a cards that could be used at gas stations only...

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:29:51 GMT

@fltireguy wrote:

Just a reminder, it's NOT a gas-only card. It's a MASTERCARD.

OP stated that he is paranoid of skimmers, and was looking for a cards that could be used at gas stations only...

Right. There are some cards that are great rewards wise only for gas, such as the Penfed Cash Rewards, which, financially, should only be used at the pump. But nothing prevents a skimmer taking the info and using it anywhere.

But my advice to OP is try to overcome the paranoia! A solution here wouldn't protect other uses of the cc, and while they may not skim so much, many other attacks are possible. You aren't responsible for fraud, although you are paying higher prices anyway because of it, so try to maximize rewards and just deal with fraud if and when it happens.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 15:07:08 GMT

There are a lot of great suggestions here, and I appreciate all of the responses. As for the last one, "overcome the paranoia," sorry, just can't do that. First, I'm in information security as a career. Overcoming the paranoia simply isn't an option. The Prime Directive is to minimize risk and exposure. Second, I've had card data stolen three times. Yes, it's covered, but it's a hassle every time.

Some of the suggestions have led me down thought trails which I don't think have been spelled out directly, but are similar to those suggested...

What about SpeedPass for Exxon/Mobil, linked to whatever reward offering is best at the moment, such as Discover when it's at 5% for gas, or any other 2% card at any other time? SpeedPass links to Plenti, and I'm not yet familiar with the rewards breakdown for Plenti, but if I'm getting rewarded both from Plenti -and- from whatever gas-based rewards happen on the linked credit card, that's win-win, right? And it keeps me from having to swipe a VISA card at the pump, and also saves me the INQ from applying for a gas-company-specific card, since I already have a quite usable and varied card profile. Any of you have experience with SpeedPass/Plenti?

Are there similar plans for other gas companies that link a card and avoid a card swipe at the pump?

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 15:21:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
There are a lot of great suggestions here, and I appreciate all of the responses. As for the last one, "overcome the paranoia," sorry, just can't do that. First, I'm in information security as a career. Overcoming the paranoia simply isn't an option. The Prime Directive is to minimize risk and exposure. Second, I've had card data stolen three times. Yes, it's covered, but it's a hassle every time.

Some of the suggestions have led me down thought trails which I don't think have been spelled out directly, but are similar to those suggested...

What about SpeedPass for Exxon/Mobil, linked to whatever reward offering is best at the moment, such as Discover when it's at 5% for gas, or any other 2% card at any other time? SpeedPass links to Plenti, and I'm not yet familiar with the rewards breakdown for Plenti, but if I'm getting rewarded both from Plenti -and- from whatever gas-based rewards happen on the linked credit card, that's win-win, right? And it keeps me from having to swipe a VISA card at the pump, and also saves me the INQ from applying for a gas-company-specific card, since I already have a quite usable and varied card profile. Any of you have experience with SpeedPass/Plenti?

Are there similar plans for other gas companies that link a card and avoid a card swipe at the pump?

And speedpass now can be linked to ApplePay, which may provide additional security.

Re my overcome comment: what about all your other uses of credit cards? If I had that issue, I would probably buy discounted gift cards for almost all purchases where I didn't need credit card protection, minimizing my cc exposuire to just a handful of gift card exchanges. But can be a hassle! (Or use them where you can't use Apple/Samsung pay etc, if you trust those)

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 15:26:34 GMT

Yes, obviously I can't eliminate ALL risk. But all evidence I've seen points to gas pumps being a high vulnerability and frequently exploited target for skimmers, so I'm avoiding one high vulnerability high usage risk point.

Some of the newer skimmers are really advanced. From the tiny inserts that are virtually undetectable, to the inline skimmers that are installed inside the box and even more undetectable.

The other high vulnerability target is ATMs in vulnerable areas. My profile doesn't involve much ATM usage these days, but if it did I would avoid unprotected ATMs or those in sketchy areas.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

fltireguy — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 15:40:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
There are a lot of great suggestions here, and I appreciate all of the responses. As for the last one, "overcome the paranoia," sorry, just can't do that. First, I'm in information security as a career. Overcoming the paranoia simply isn't an option. The Prime Directive is to minimize risk and exposure. Second, I've had card data stolen three times. Yes, it's covered, but it's a hassle every time.

Some of the suggestions have led me down thought trails which I don't think have been spelled out directly, but are similar to those suggested...

What about SpeedPass for Exxon/Mobil, linked to whatever reward offering is best at the moment, such as Discover when it's at 5% for gas, or any other 2% card at any other time? SpeedPass links to Plenti, and I'm not yet familiar with the rewards breakdown for Plenti, but if I'm getting rewarded both from Plenti -and- from whatever gas-based rewards happen on the linked credit card, that's win-win, right? And it keeps me from having to swipe a VISA card at the pump, and also saves me the INQ from applying for a gas-company-specific card, since I already have a quite usable and varied card profile. Any of you have experience with SpeedPass/Plenti?

Are there similar plans for other gas companies that link a card and avoid a card swipe at the pump?

Speedpass is wonderful, the only downfall that I see with it is a LOT of locations are not set up for it. Even better is ExxonMobil's mobile app, which can be used at participating locations for payment as well.. , but, again, those locations are very limited too.

IF I was going to travel extensively, I would probably just have a Shell, and an Exxonmobil card.... if I didnt want to use MC/Visa, etc..

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

SouthJamaica — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 16:47:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, obviously I can't eliminate ALL risk. But all evidence I've seen points to gas pumps being a high vulnerability and frequently exploited target for skimmers, so I'm avoiding one high vulnerability high usage risk point.

Some of the newer skimmers are really advanced. From the tiny inserts that are virtually undetectable, to the inline skimmers that are installed inside the box and even more undetectable.

The other high vulnerability target is ATMs in vulnerable areas. My profile doesn't involve much ATM usage these days, but if it did I would avoid unprotected ATMs or those in sketchy areas.

I think you're on the right track with this. The only instance of credit card fraud I can remember came shortly after I'd used one of my lesser used cards at a certain gas station I hadn't frequented before.

I have never considered getting a gas card, because I have basically sworn off "store cards", but you've got me rethinking that.

Re: Best gas-only card for US national travel?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 17:39:47 GMT

You're not on the hook for fraud, so I wouldn't be too worried. I used a gas station with a skimmer once. BoA (back when I knew nothing and only had one card) notified me the next day that unauthorized purchases were attempted and they went ahead and removed them from my card, closed it, and overnighted me a new card. Don't worry too much about fraudulent activity. Banks are insured against it, it's between them and the police to figure it out.

Side note, this is exactly why I don't use debit anymore.